How to calculate critical searcher separation for a specific search area using the 'Northumberland Rain Dance', by Robert "Skip" Stoffel

Average distances from object in rain dance to determine Critical Separation

Critical Separation is a technique that is easy to teach, learn and put into practice. Perkins and Roberts (1989) orchestrated the Northumberland Rain Dance to determine the Critical Separation for any set of conditions that might exist in the local environment.

Searchers are said to be at Critical Separation when the visual horizon for each searcher falls at roughly the middle of the measured distance between any two searchers. (In other words, an individual searcher's visual horizon would neither overlap nor fall short of the visual horizon of the team member to his or her left or right.) The measurement is said to be elastic because it will vary with "purposeful wandering" and the difficulty of the terrain as the searchers pass through the segment.

Critical Separation is determined by a simple procedure called the Rain Dance. In the past decade, there has been a lot of speculation about just how this procedure is conducted. An object is placed on the ground that is similar in size and color to the object being sought. For many purposes a rucksack is a suitable, easily available object. This could be anything from a rucksack to a bag the size of a body or an actual person.

Eight to ten searchers are stationed around the object or person at a distance beyond where they can see the object or person being sought. Each searcher then walks slowly in a circle around the object for a few meters all going in the same direction. They then turn 90 degrees and walk toward the object until they can clearly see it. This procedure was designed to simulate that the searchers really didn't know where the object was.

At the point where the object is visible, each of the searchers then paces off the distance from "detection" to the object. All of the distances are then averaged. Twice the average distance is what is called Critical Separation. Commonly the configuration of the circle will be ellipsoidal and the developers of the tactic (Perkins and Roberts—1989) advocate that the differences between the maximum and minimum distances will be an indication of the amount of purposeful wandering that will be needed in a particular segment.

When searchers are spaced at a distance equal to Critical Separation (CS=1) the theoretical POD (Probability of Detection) was supposed to be right around 50%. However, during field trials of the procedure when trained teams are "purposefully wandering" through an area, PODS have proven to be consistently closer to 80%. Because of this, it has been postulated that a trained group searching with spacing equal to Critical Separation can be a very efficient use of search manpower.

An important responsibility of the overhead management team is to try, to the extent possible, to ensure that the terrain in any segment is as uniform as possible. This negates the requirement to be continually carrying out the rain dance procedure as visual conditions and terrain change.

Once the Critical Separation has been determined, the party starts to search. The members wander along in a purposeful manner, stopping regularly to look all around. Should a marked change in conditions occur or it is desired to search a small area for small clues, the Rain Dance may be easily redone.

Source: This article was adapted from The Textbook for Managing Land Search Operations, by Robert C. "Skip" Stoffel of Emergency Response International, Inc., in Cashmere, Washington. Copyright © 2006. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with Expressed Written Permission.

To purchase a copy of this massive, 540-page, spiral-bound manual, or schedule search-and-rescue training or a survival course, point your Internet browser here.

Skip Stoffel is the President and founder of Emergency Response International, Inc.,
(ERI), formally known as Emergency Response Institute, Inc.

The company was formed in 1978 to provide information and courses in Search & Rescue Management, Survival Education, and Emergency Response to private, corporate, and government organizations.

Skip's experience includes:

• service as a USAF Rescue/Survival Technician during the Vietnam era,
• running a professional guide business for five years,
• working in the Washington State SAR Coordination Center for five years,
• and running a successful training and consulting business for over twenty-years.

Skip has authored three-dozen books on SAR Management and Survival Education, His most notable book—Survival Sense for Pilots and Passengers—has been used extensively in general and corporate aviation.

Skip is trained as a:

• USAF Survival Instructor,
• EMT,
• SCUBA diver,
• and glider pilot.

As the company's lead instructor and consultant, Skip continues to build innovative courses and support material for ERI's programs throughout he world. Learn more about ERI here.

How to tie the toggle hitch, by Alan Halcon

The Toggle Hitch

One of the most common tasks for bushcraft is tying a ridgeline for a tarp between two trees. And, because of the popularity of Ray Mears, the Siberian (Evenk) Hitch seems to reign at the top of the list.

However, there is a very simple, fast, and easy alternative that meets the more bushcrafty aura: the toggle hitch.

Similar, but different than a Marlin spike, the toggle hitch is extremely fast and secure; moreover, when tension is slackened, a few quick shakes of the line will release the toggle, freeing it… perfect for those times when you are too lazy to walk back to the opposite tree to undo the knot.

To tie this hitch, only two things are needed, a loop tied in one end and a piece of a twig, pencil, pen, etc.

Following the series of pictures below, one can see how easy this hitch is to tie...

This hitch will stay firmly and securely in place, so long as tension is kept on the running end. This is easy enough, as one will be tying it off under tension on the other end to hang the tarp. Once ready to undo, simply pull the pin out, or untie the other side and shake the line and it will release the pin, freeing it from the tree.

NOTE: Before anyone gets the wise idea and thinks, “Oh Great! I can apply this to a rappelling rig so I can retrieve the line from the bottom”, let me say… this is not intended for that.

Source: This article was adapted from Ridgeline Toggle Hitch, by Alan Halcon, owner and operator of Outdoor Self Reliance (OSR) Wilderness Survival and Bushcraft Training in Southern California. Copyright © 2014.  All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with Expressed Written Permission. To learn more about Outdoor Self Reliance, or sign up for a class, point your Internet browser here.

Alan Halcon, owner and operator of  Southern California's
Outdoor Self Reliance (OSR) Wilderness Survival and Bushcraft Training.

Author Alan Halcon, in his own words: Ever since I can remember, I’ve  loved the outdoors. My dad was an avid outdoorsman and always taking the family camping, fishing and hunting.

I reckon I must have been about 10 or 12 (circa 80s) when I went to Segovia, Spain and spent a summer there. While my parents wanted to go sight seeing, I was more interested in staying back and playing with my friends. I spent a lot of time in the outdoors with my friends, learning Survival skills, though at the time to me it was just goofing off in the wilderness. Oh how my mom hated me hanging out with them. But try as she may, I didn’t listen and was always running around with my friends. I reckon she had good reason to keep me away from those kids… They were Gypsies! Oh but how I learned some skills.

Those Gypsy kids were the ones that taught me how to poison fish with plants, hand magfishing, and bird trapping with a substance called “Liga” or birdlime—A sticky substance smeared on branches that would cause the birds to stick when they landed on the branches. This Liga was made from the bark of a tree through a pretty drawn out process. It was during that time I also bought my first survival book, in Spanish, no less. I also very much recall heading to the hills for some wildcrafting with my aunts and Grandmother. My Grandmother was always gathering medicinal herbs and I also learned how to make wood ash soap from my grandmother.

While I got older and had different interests, my passion for the outdoors remained. It must have been maybe in 1995 I met Christopher Nyerges and Dude McLean. We all quickly became friends. Sometime in the late nineties or early two thousands, I began writing for Wilderness Way Magazine, of which Christopher was the editor.

A lot has gone on since that time. I’ve been featured in Ron Hood’s video series (Number 15 of the Woodsmaster series). I currently hold the record at getting a handdrill coal (2 seconds). I’ve written for a couple of other magazines and have ghost written sections of other books and I’ve traveled the country teaching outdoor self reliance.

Along with Christopher Nyerges and Dude McLean, I own Dirttime.com. I’ve made a lot of friends because of it. In fact, we have a yearly event that reunites instructors and students for a week long family oriented shindig in the outdoors.

I don’t consider myself an expert, never will. I will forever be a perpetual student of the outdoors. I do enjoy sharing my experience and teaching others skills that will help them become more self-reliant and proficient in the outdoors. I run workshops year round, and I am still rewarded every time a student accomplishes their first coal, or sets their first trap.

My discipline is more Wilderness Living, than it is running around in a panic when one gets disoriented. Woodcraft/Bushcraft are the foundation of what I do and it is what I try to instill in my students by helping them grow their woodsmanship skills

One of Alan's favorite quotes....This panic stricken craze and sense of fear so prevalent in the survival community is the antithesis of the accomplished woodsman. For it is he or she who looks upon such circumstances as minor annoyances, at best, and more often as opportunities.—Anonymous

• Alan's OSR Web site; Follow OSR on Facebook
• Alan's Dirttime Web site; Follow Dirttime on Facebook

January 2014 issue of "This Month in Search & Rescue," published by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office in Sierra Vista, Arizona

Download it here.

The K-9 handler's arch nemesis—distractions: How to deal with noises and objects that spook or attract a working K-9, by Jeff Schettler

The author working K-9 Anvak through
tractor/trailer engine-noise fear.

Noise and shapes can spook or attract dogs and need to be considered distractions in their own right. If whatever happens causes a trailing dog to disengage from the scent trail of the subject, it is a distraction.

I have often heard handlers tell me that their dog has a certain attraction or fear reaction to a certain "thing," and they take it for granted that it is a problem. Rather than trying to fix it, they attempt to avoid the problem or let the problem shut the dog down.

This is a bad habit and does nothing more than reinforce the reaction in the dog. If the dog realizes that the handler will give in to an attraction or give up when the dog encounters something about which he is nervous, the distraction becomes stronger each and every time this happens.

There will come a point at which the handler may not be able to correct it. As with the kitty, the attraction or phobic response should be dealt with immediately and never be reinforced by allowance. 

The only way I learn about a dog's attraction or phobic response to an animal or object is through his body language. There is no other way, because the dog cannot speak to me. I am charged with the duty to be cognizant of what affects the dog. My job is that of an interpreter, motivator, and leader.

Here's another example using my own dog. For some unknown reason, my dog freaked out when he heard the crash of a trash-truck dumpster putting a load of trash into the bed of the truck. I have no idea why, and I do not remember a particular incident that triggered it the first time, but I am now convinced that it had happened before and that something I did reinforced the fear. I know this now after working with hundreds of dogs.

Ronin was my first dog, and he was wonderful for me because he provided the basis for everything I did then and for what I am now. I am now intensely watchful of any dog's body language at all times that I am with him. If the dog is for work, I am doubly watchful.

The only way I learn about a dog's attraction or phobic response to an animal or object is through his body language. There is no other way, because the dog cannot speak to me. I am charged with the duty to be cognizant of what affects the dog. My job is that of an interpreter, motivator, and leader.

Training a police K-9 puppy to not be concerned with gunshots.

When I finally recognized the problem regarding the trash truck, I had to take countermeasures to solve it.

• First, I needed to make my dog realize that I was not afraid. I am the perceived leader, and if the dog thinks that I am afraid based on my odor or physical reaction, his reaction will be equal to or exceed my own.
  
  With my behavior, I affect what and how my dog responds to situations. If I am a rock in a stormy sea of stimuli, my dog will be easier to deal with. I showed Ronin that I was not afraid; I approached the truck confidently and with no hesitation.
  
• Second, I used motivation and reward (food) to coax him in close. This took time, but I got Ronin to the point that he could trail right past a trash truck and not give it a second glance. The reward can be anything the dog likes such as a ball, tug, or praise. Ronin was a walking stomach, and food was the key to everything. 

Training a police K-9 puppy to not be concerned with gunshots.

The worst thing to do is to coddle! A handler should not coddle his dog when the dog is scared.

What I mean by coddling is, when the dog shows a fear reaction, the handler reaches down and pets and fawns over him, cooing sweet nothings into his ear.

This behavior reinforces the fear because, in reality, the petting and cooing are telling the dog that he is right to be afraid of what he is balking at.

Dogs are not children, and they do not rationalize things the way people do; stroking and "rewarding" fear behavior tells the dog that his fear behavior is well founded.

The best way for a handler to correct his dog is to firmly say "no," confidently walk up to the "thing," inspect it with no fear, and then motivate his dog to come over. If it takes six months to fix this situation, so be it.

Source: This article was adapted from K-9 Trailing—The Straightest Path, by Jeff Schettler. Copyright © 2011 by Jeffrey Hampton Schettler. Alpine Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with Expressed Written Permission. To order your copy of this book—which was written by a man-hunter for man-hunters— point your Internet browser to the Georgia K9 National Training Center.

Jeff Schettler is a retired police K9 handler who worked for the City of Alameda and County of Amador in California, and was attached to the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Teams’ K9 Assistance Program for two years. This program was designed to locate and apprehend high-risk fugitives on the run.

Jeff has worked hundreds of trailing cases across the USA and is a specialist in the area of tactical trailing applications. He and his police bloodhound, Ronin, made numerous successful finds during their 11-year career.

Jeff has trained under many well-known manhunters, including Jerry Yelk, Glenn Rimbey, Jerry Nichols, John Lutenberg, John Salem, and Doug Lowry.

Jeff is considered a law enforcement expert witness in the areas of scent evidence and trailing with bloodhounds. He has qualified as an expert in the counties of Santa Clara and Alameda in California. He has also corroborated other police K9 handlers in court with regard to their trailing training and experience.

After leaving the police force, Jeff founded TacticalTrackerTeams.com and later integrated it with the Georgia K9 National Training Center, LLC, with his partner Kelli Collins.

Georgia K9 National Training Center is a specialty K9 training company with nationally recognized dog trainers and clients across the country. GAK9 offers a variety of services, each tailored to fit the needs of civilian, law enforcement, and search & rescue dog owners and handlers.

Jeff rarely relaxes at his home/dog training facility in Canton, Georgia; there are just too many dogs running around.

He has recently expanded his K9 horizons and began training Basenjis to find narcotics and explosives. His series of nine articles called the “Hunter Basenji Chronicles,” covering the use of the Basenji for hunting and detector dog work, were published in the Basenji Magazine.

To schedule training, or learn more about the Georgia K9 National Training Center—which has offices in Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia—point your Internet browser here.

• Follow Georgia K-9 on Facebook.

The January 2014 issue of 'Aware,' published by NOAA’s National Weather Service, is online

Download it here.

Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) finding: fatal fall during heli hoist operation was caused by improper harness attachment

A civilian volunteer who fell to his death while he was being lowered from a HH-60G operated by the California Air National Guard’s 129^th Rescue Wing (RQW) was not properly secured to his harness, according to a report released by the US Air Force Air Combat Command Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB).

The accident occurred approximately 30 miles east of Visalia, California, on 12 September 2013....read more here.

Standard belay devices and their loading-handling capabilities, by Richard Delaney

This graphic represents the results of a series of tests by Richard Delaney to "test the capacity of various devices to hold a load—not the ability of a load (or abseiler/rappeller) to belay itself." 

Notes: The "hand" applied tension was an attempt to apply a tension similar to what could normally be applied with one hand on the rope, and the other hand at one's side—as if behind a belay device when belaying/abseiling/rappelling. The"max" applied tension was an attempt to apply a tension similar to what could normally be applied holding the belay rope with two hands, standing behind the device with good footing. Richard also measured these subjective approximations and got 10kg for one hand, 10-20kg for two hands at the waist height behind a device, and 50kg for the max/two hands standing pulling out in front effort. He used 11mm Edelrid super static rope, says all "figures should be viewed as +/- 20kg or so," and described the test process as an "example of experimentation and interpretation."

The setup Richard used for this test.

To read the exchange of comments, questions, and answers between the author of this graphic and other rope enthusiasts on the Rope Test Page, point your Internet browser here.

Source: This article was adapted from Standard belay devices and their loading-handling capabilities, by Richard Delaney, Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with expressed written permission. To learn more about rope access work, climbing, and rope rescue, visit Richard's Rope Test Lab.

Richard Delaney has worked professionally with ropes since 1992. Initially, this was as a multi-pitch, rock-climbing guide, but this soon morphed into specialized rescue instruction and rope access work.

He is currently an accredited Vertical Rescue Instructor/Assessor, a Level 3 Rope Access Technician, a Technical Director of the Australian Rope Access Association, and the administrator of the Rope Test Lab group on Facebook.

Understanding and teaching the Physics of Rigging is a core passion of Richard's, one based on his experience, and his prior professional life as a qualified engineer.

Train with Richard: An internationally-recognized expert in rope rigging, Richard is coming to North America—the United States and Canada—to instruct several 3- to 5-day Rigging Physics Courses during 2014. To learn more about these courses, point your Internet browser to the Rescue Response Gear Rigging Lab.
• To follow Richard on Facebook, 'like' the Rope Test Lab group page.

Jan/Feb 2014 issue of 'Emergency Management Magazine' online

Download it here.

RECALL: RescYou Crevasse Rescue Device recalled by Mammut

More info about this recall

• Europe recall info
• USA and Canada recall info

Sources: Gripped Climbing Magazine, Oplopanax Horridus.

Montana SAR volunteer killed in a snowmobile accident during training

Missoula, Montana — Press Release: Lincoln County Sheriff's Office

A Libby Search & Rescue volunteer [DTSAR Team Web site] was killed in a snowmobile accident Saturday morning southwest of Troy.

On Saturday, January 18, 2014, members of David Thompson Search and Rescue and CANAM Search and Rescue were taking part in a joint avalanche preparedness training exercise in the Bear Mountain area up Keeler Creek, about 12 miles southwest of Troy, Montana.  This joint training also involved members of search and rescue teams from Sanders County, Montana and Boundary County, Idaho, along with personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and other volunteer members of the community.

At about 9:50 AM, Troy Dispatch was advised of a snowmobile accident on the Keeler Creek road, with one male adult victim.  Medically trained personnel already at the scene of the accident requested an air ambulance response and began CPR on the patient.  The Alert Helicopter out of Kalispell was launched to respond.  Troy Volunteer Ambulance (TVA) and Advance Life Support (ALS) personnel responded to the scene from Troy.

Upon arrival at the trailhead parking area, an ALS member was transported up the drainage by snowmobile to meet the patient.  The patient, identified as Cameron Mitchell Goins, age 47, of Libby, was declared dead at 10:33 AM, shortly after ALS arrival.  The helicopter response was cancelled.

Sheriff Roby Bowe responded to the scene with Detective Nate Scofield.  U.S. Forest Service investigators also responded.

The accident investigation revealed that Goins, along with a group of other snowmobilers, was riding his snowmobile alone up the Keeler Creek drainage toward the avalanche training area when, for an unknown reason, Goins drifted off the maintained snowmobile trail and struck a tree with his body.  Goins was wearing a helmet.

Goins had been a member of David Thompson Search and Rescue for two years.  He was an active member of the Snowmobile Unit, ATV Unit, and Mountain Unit.

“Cameron Goins was a dedicated community volunteer and will always be remembered and have a place within David Thompson Search and Rescue, and the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his family.”   - Sheriff Roby Bowe.

Sources: NBC Montana, JoCoSAR Blog

Free pocket-sized 'Track Card' for man-tracking field notes

Download and print this free Track Card—courtesy of Fernando Moreira, Professional Tracking Services,  Reno, Nevada—here.

Source: This article was adapted from man-tracking course material provided by Fernando Moreira of Professional Tracking Services in Reno, Nevada. Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with expressed written permission.

Fernando Moreira has been involved in man-tracking for over 40 years. He learned the art of tracking in Portugal, from his father—a Portuguese Combat Tracker—as well as from African bushmen, the Rhodesian military, and his four years with the Portuguese Army, where he served as a combat tracker during the African wars in Mozambique, Guinea, and Angola.

Fernando is a long-time member of several search and rescue units, including the Washoe County Sheriff’s Hasty Team and Washoe County Search & Rescue, Inc. His certifications include PSD Diver, Swift Water Rescuer, Back Country, SAR Tech II, Technical Rope, and Mine Rescue. He has been a State of Nevada-certified tracking instructor since 1997, and is a Nevada State P.O.S.T.-certified investigative tracker and instructor.

In addition to working on over 15,000 man-tracking cases—the longest of which was 46 miles!—Fernando has assisted local law enforcement officers in numerous manhunts for felons and searches for critical evidence in several high-profile investigations, including bank robberies, child molestations, and murders, most notably, the case against Siaosi Vanisi, who brutally murdered campus police officer George Daniel Sullivan in 1997. Fernando has received numerous awards, citations, and letters of merit, including: two-time recipient of the American Red Cross Real Hero Award; Rescuer of the Year; Excellence in Search and Rescue Medal, etc. He was nominated twice for America’s Most Wanted All Star Award

As the founder of both the Tactical Tracking School and Professional Tracking Services in Reno, Nevada, Fernando has taught over 5,000 military combat man-trackers, law enforcement tactical man-trackers, and search-and-rescue man-trackers across the United States and the world. To learn more about Fernando's man-tracking career, read "America’s Most Wanted: Staying on Track and Learning from the Best," which appeared in the Spring, 2008 issue of the Forensic Examiner.

• Fernando's Tactical Tracking School: Web site
• Fernando's Professional Tracking Services: Web site; Facebook Page No 1, No. 2
• Follow Fernando on Facebook: Personal Page; Tactical Tracking Group Page

How to socialize a K-9

View high-resolution image of this info graphic here.

Info graphic courtesy of Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin. Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced With Permission.

Source: Peace River K9 Search & Rescue Association, Inc.

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Turn your Android or iPhone into a satellite smartphone with the SatSleeve from Thuraya

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Thuraya SatSleeve provides access to phone calls, emails, instant messages and popular social media apps in satellite mode across 160 countries within Thuraya’s coverage network....More info

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Thuraya SatSleeve provides access to phone calls, emails, instant messages and popular social media apps in satellite mode, across 159 countries across Thuraya’s coverage network...More info 

9-volt-battery fire hazard

A July fire in New Hampshire sparked by a 9 volt battery in a junk drawer has fire safety officials warning of how to properly store them.

The resident had just cleaned and organized a junk drawer in her kitchen and the fire was started by storing the 9 volt battery in the same baggie as other batteries, the state fire marshal's office said in a press release.

The 9 volt battery rubbed against another battery and ignited the fire, according to the investigation by the local fire department. Read more here.

Source: Watch video on the JoCoSAR Blog

Heli rescue video on Mt. Lemmon, January 11, 2014, by Pima County Sheriff's Department Air Rescue, Tucson, Arizona

This is a hoist rescue of a fall victim on the backside of Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ. The rescue was performed by the Pima County Sheriff's Department Air and Search and Rescue Units. The patient suffered multiple fractures to include a broken vertebrae, resulting in limited mobility. Patient care was transferred to an awaiting Lifeline helicopter for transport to a local hospital. Watch video here.

Source: JoCoSAR Blog

Wilderness First Aid—Is it helpful to put a warm person into a sleeping bag with a cold, hypothermic person? By Tod Schimelpfenig, NOLS Wilderness Medical Institute

Photo credit: © Josh Whitmore/NOLS

If you teach a class on treating hypothermia in the wilderness you are bound to be asked about the value of a warm person snuggling with cold person in a sleeping bag.

Actually, snuggling may not be the best word, because putting aside the giggles this conversation elicits in some audiences it’s not easy to hug a physically cold person and the snuggling is a necessary task, not a recreational experience.

But, that’s not what I want to write about.  I want to discuss whether it’s helpful to put a warm person into a sleeping bag with a cold person.

Source: This article was adapted from Hypothermia—Two People in a Sleeping Bag, by Tod Schimelpfenig, EMT, FAWM, Curriculum Director, Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI). Copyright © 2014 National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Lander, Wyoming. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with expressed written permission. To learn more about WMI and NOLS, point your Internet browser here.

Body-to-body warming hasn’t seen much research.  It seems the technology of heaters and forced air warming is more attractive.  The research we found says it doesn’t help much, and it probably doesn’t harm. [1] [2]

According to Gordon Giesbrecht an adult cooled to 95 degrees F (34.7 degrees C), the common threshold for hypothermia definitions, can have a profound caloric deficit. [2]  A healthy adult at rest will make about 1kcal of heat per kg of body weight per hour.  This won’t be enough to quickly reverse significant hypothermia.  In those tales where we got in a sleeping bag and heroically warmed the severely cold person — well — we may have done the patient a favor, but they probably were not very cold in the first place.

Photo: Marcio Paes Baretto, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus

Ideally the people should be nude.  The more skin to skin contact the better, but realistically, even nude, the direct skin contact between the heat donor and the patient is small.

According to Dr Giesbrecht [3] the transfer of the energy to the core will be blunted by vasoconstriction.  Since most of our mildly hypothermic patients are not dramatically vasoconstricted, this will be only a small hindrance.  In severely hypothermic patients it may be a significant limitation to the heat transfer from donor to recipient.

We know that shivering is a powerful means, indeed our best wilderness tool to produce heat in a person with the energy reserves to shiver.   We also know that warming the skin blunts the shivering response.  We don’t know the significance of the shivering inhibition from warming skin because, even if the patient shivers less, they feel more comfortable and preserve their energy reserves (e.g. they burn fewer calories shivering).

There is concern the donor may become hypothermic.  I’ve seen heat donors realize this isn’t a lot of fun, but in the real world, and in the research, the donors don’t become hypothermic.

What are the positives of putting another person in the bag?

• It may provide comfort for the patient to snuggle with another person.
• You can monitor the patient closely.
• You may help the patient warm while they expend fewer calories shivering.
• If the patient is unable to shiver, perhaps they are severely cold, metabolically exhausted, or unable to shiver, the second person in the bag may at least warm the insulation, the thermos bottle of the hypo wrap, and help keep the patient from cooling further, a very important goal.

What are the negatives?

• You may not be able to fit the heat donor in the bag and still close the opening tightly.  This may reduce the effectiveness of the hypo wrap.
• If you plan on carrying the patient with the heat donor inside you’ll have the weight of two to manage.
• The donor may jostle the severely cold patient, who we want to treat as gently as possible.
• The heat donor is not on the surface doing important tasks such as building a fire, making sure your companions are also not hypothermic, or preparing shelter, hot drinks and food.
• When the heat donor has tired of being in the wrap and wants out the nice cocoon has to be opened.

We’re often asked about the donor sweating and wetting the insulation.  Yes, it can become steamy in there, but wet insulation has not been a problem in our experience.

What should we do?

Most of our “hypothermic” patients in the wilderness are not hypothermic in a medical sense, that is, they are warmer than 95F (34.7C).
 
The people we think of as hypothermic are cold challenged, cold stressed, cold and unhappy.  However, our world is not the controlled hospital environment.  This situation gets our immediate attention.  We’ll attend to the cold person promptly, and if they are healthy, we’ll warm them by removing them from the cold stress, placing them in dry clothing and dry insulation, such as a sleeping bag, and feeding and hydrating them.  Their internal metabolic fires, shivering, and our tender loving care will warm their heart, and their body. 

People who are truly hypothermic are dangerously ill.  They may be wasted (a non-medical term that says they are fatigued, dehydrated and low on food reserves), or have a serious simultaneous medical condition.  We may not be able to warm these people in the backcountry.  Our efforts are focused on stabilizing the patient; we don’t want to jostle them or allow them to cool further.  They likely will only warm in the hospital, so we transport them gently.

I’ve been told two people in a sleeping bag to treat hypothermia is the “standard of care” in the wilderness.  Actually, it’s not.  The science isn’t strongly in it’s favor and in the wilderness, scenarios are often unique, our equipment less than ideal and our need to improvise real.   As always, we’ll use our judgment, understand the principles of treatment and weight the factors in our specific scenario.

The heat sources you have available on your wilderness trip may only be insulated hot water bottles, or the patient’s metabolism and shivering. If you have a good camp and plenty of people you may be able to spare a person to be in the sleeping bag.  If you’re a small group, and knowing heat transfer between bodies is not very efficient, you may decide your assistant is best used staring a fire, making a warm meal and drink on the stove, setting up the camp or attending to the other people on your trip.
_______________
1. Harnett RM, O’Brien EM, Sias FR, Pruitt JR. "Initial treatment of profound accidental hypothermia." Aviat Space Environ Med. 1980;51:680–687.
2. Giesbrecht GG, Sessler DI, Mekjavic IB, Schroeder M,  Bristow GK. "Treatment of mild immersion hypothermia by direct body-to-body contact." J Appl Physiol. 1994;76: 2373–2379.
3. Hypothermia, Frostbite and other Cold Injuries. 2ed Giesbrecht GG and Wilkerson JA.  The Mountaineers. 2007.

6 ways to more effectively manage a search incident

To more effectively manage a search incident, one only has to look to the Incident Command System (ISC), which specifies a number of guidelines for optimal outcomes, including:

• Keep operational periods to 12 hours or less
• Span of control should not exceed 7
• Make decisions using consensus and consultation
• Be proactive, not reactive
• Manage resources effectively
• Use common terminology

Source: This article was adapted from Arizona Basic Search and Rescue, 2nd edition (February 2013), by the Arizona Search and Rescue Coordinators Association, Ltd., in Hereford, Arizona, USA. Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with expressed written permission. To learn more about search and rescue in Arizona, point your Internet browser to SARAZ.org.

Keep operational periods to 12 hours or less
The number of hours for which search managers can remain effective, rational decision-makers is limited. Normally, the quality of thinking processes begins to wane after 8 hours of duty and becomes severely impaired after 12 hours. The usual full operational period therefore consists of 12-hour shifts, with an overlap of approximately one hour at shift changes so that the next overhead team can be adequately briefed. In other words, the work shift is longer than the Operational Period.

In urban searches the Operational Period is sometimes set at 8 hours, rather than 12. The start and length of the second and subsequent operational periods should be proposed by the Planning Section, confirmed by the Logistics Section, and given final approval by the Incident Commander. The operational period is the period of time scheduled for completion of a given set of actions called for in the IAP.

Span of control should not exceed 7
The number of people that a manager can effectively supervise is limited, especially during a SAR incident. ICS recommends that the number of supervised people is between 3 and 7, with 5 suggested as an optimum.

When the number becomes larger than this, it is time to delegate authority to assistants, to whom the manageable span of control also applies. The size of the current organization and that for the next operational period are determined through the incident planning process.

Make decisions using consensus and consultation
In search management, the basic tenet is "Never Plan Alone". Consultation requires discussion, and discussion facilitates a rational and systematic approach to search planning, where ideas are analyzed and reevaluated through dialogue.

For example, although the Incident Commander has sole responsibility for establishing the incident objectives, they consult with members of the overhead team before doing so. Similarly, the Planning Section Chief draws upon all available expertise when assigning priorities to different segments of the search area.

Be proactive, not reactive
A proactive search manager anticipates events before they occur and is fully prepared to cope with emerging problems or difficulties. Bad weather, injuries, accidents, equipment failures, and the depletion of resources are planned for rather than merely reacted to.

Most importantly, search managers must have at their disposal a preplan, which guides many of the decisions that have to be made during a search emergency. A good preplan anticipates such problems and suggests optimal courses of action for each.

Manage resources effectively
Resources at an incident must be managed effectively. Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date picture of resource utilization is a critical component of incident management. Resource management includes processes for:

• Ordering resources.
• Dispatching resources.
• Categorizing resources. For example, there are three ways to temporarily organize resources: as single resources, as strike teams, or as task forces.
• Single Resources. As the name implies, a single resource is an individual piece of equipment, or group of individuals, with an identified supervisor. Examples of a single resource are: a helicopter with pilot, an air scent dog with handler, a UAV with "pilot", an ATV with driver, a hasty search team with leader.
• Strike Teams. A strike team consists of resources of the same kind with common communications and a leader. Examples of a strike team are: an 8-man team created from four 2-man hasty teams to search a segment, or two horses and their riders.
• Task Forces. A task force consists of resources of different kinds with common communications and a leader. An example of a task force is an air-scent dog and handler together with an additional person to handle communications.
• Tracking resources. The status of a resource that is checked-in but not checked out, fall into one of three categories.
• Assigned. Currently working on an assignment under the direction of a supervisor.
• Available. Ready for immediate assignment and has been issued all required equipment.
• Out-of-Service. Neither available nor ready to be assigned (for example, maintenance issues, rest periods).

The physical process of keeping track of resources can be done in various ways.

Use common terminology
For effective management, everyone must speak the same language. A number of central terms basic to ICS have already been introduced, such as "Incident Commander" and "Operational Period". Others follow.

• Position Titles. At each level within the ICS organization, individuals with primary responsibility have distinct titles, as do their assistants. See Table 12.1. Titles provide a common standard for all users, and also make it easier to fill ICS positions with qualified personnel. ICS titles often do not correspond to the titles used on a daily basis.

• Incident Facilities. Common terminology is used to designate the facilities in the vicinity of the incident area that are used in the course of incident management activities. See Figure 12.2. These include
• Incident Command Post (ICP), where the Incident Commander oversees the incident.
• Staging Areas, where resources are kept while waiting to be assigned.
• Base, where primary logistics functions are coordinated and administered.
• Camps, where resources may be kept.
• Helibase/Helispot, where helicopter operations are conducted.
  The terms "base camp" and "rendezvous" which are sometimes used in SAR, are not in the ICS vocabulary, and their use should be discouraged.

• Resource Descriptions. Major resources—including personnel, facilities, and major equipment and supply items—used to support incident management activities are given common names and are "typed" with respect to their capabilities, to help avoid confusion. ICS identities resources as tactical or support resources.
• Tactical Resources. Personnel and major items of equipment used in the operation.
• Support Resources. All other resources required to support the incident (for example, food, communications equipment, supplies).
  In English, the expressions "type of resource" and "kind of resource" could be used interchangeably. Not so under ICS. The word "Kind" describes what the resource is, while the word "Type" describes its capability. For example, a helicopter is a kind of resource.
• Divisions and Groups are ways of partitioning an incident into manageable pieces. A Division is a geographical region established using boundaries. For example, if there were 12 regions to search, that exceeds the span of control, then the search area could be divided into two Divisions, called Division A and Division B, each containing 6 regions. A Group is a collection of people established by function, that is, what it does. For example, the Medical Group consists of the following people, or the Investigative Group consists of the following people.
• SAR Buzzwords. More specific to SAR are the following important words that everyone involved with the management of a SAR incident should understand: Place Last Seen (PLS), Last Known Position (LKP), Initial Planning Point (IPP), Consensus, Probability of Area (POA), Rest of the World (ROW), Probability of Detection (POD), and Cumulative Probability of Detection (CPOD).
• Plain Language. The use of plain language, rather than 10-codes, in an emergency response is the ICS norm.

 
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